Tlatelolco Massacre
1968 Tlatelolco Massacre
During the Gustavo Díaz Ordaz government, the people were repressed, offended, and abused. Also, President Diaz wanted an absolute government in which he could have complete power and authority over the country and Mexican citizens. On October 2nd, in the region of the Plaza de las Tres Culturas a thousand students were gathered to protest against the government 's actions. Things started to slip through his iron fist and this turned into a nightmare of horror and grief.
The student’s protest of 1968 in Mexico City were initially touched off not by university political issues, but by charges of unusual police brutality in the suppression of a typical fight on the streets between students of two rivals high schools after a football game. As the article Mexico 's 1968 Massacre: What Really Happened? states, “The siege ended when the soldiers blasted the main door of the National Preparatory School in San Ildefonso with a bazooka, killing some of the students in the building.”
In spite of the police brutality, the offended teenagers took to the streets in protest on July 25th inspired by other student movements around the world. Unlike other past times in Mexico the middle class was enjoying a high quality of life because of the prosperous 1960s. These families had the opportunity to send their children to universities and other educational institutions. In turn, these middles class families had access to modern comforts like television and other forms of media. They found inspiration from other student and civil rights movements in The United States, Czechoslovakia, Argentina and Japan among others (Richman).
The Summer Olympic were to take place in October and President Diaz wanted to show the world that Mexico had progressed and grown. The protesters saw it as an opportunity to show the world the abusive government in order to put pressure on the regime.
For this reason, the Diaz administration became nervous about restraining
During the Gustavo Díaz Ordaz government, the people were repressed, offended, and abused. Also, President Diaz wanted an absolute government in which he could have complete power and authority over the country and Mexican citizens. On October 2nd, in the region of the Plaza de las Tres Culturas a thousand students were gathered to protest against the government 's actions. Things started to slip through his iron fist and this turned into a nightmare of horror and grief.
The student’s protest of 1968 in Mexico City were initially touched off not by university political issues, but by charges of unusual police brutality in the suppression of a typical fight on the streets between students of two rivals high schools after a football game. As the article Mexico 's 1968 Massacre: What Really Happened? states, “The siege ended when the soldiers blasted the main door of the National Preparatory School in San Ildefonso with a bazooka, killing some of the students in the building.”
In spite of the police brutality, the offended teenagers took to the streets in protest on July 25th inspired by other student movements around the world. Unlike other past times in Mexico the middle class was enjoying a high quality of life because of the prosperous 1960s. These families had the opportunity to send their children to universities and other educational institutions. In turn, these middles class families had access to modern comforts like television and other forms of media. They found inspiration from other student and civil rights movements in The United States, Czechoslovakia, Argentina and Japan among others (Richman).
The Summer Olympic were to take place in October and President Diaz wanted to show the world that Mexico had progressed and grown. The protesters saw it as an opportunity to show the world the abusive government in order to put pressure on the regime.
For this reason, the Diaz administration became nervous about restraining
Cited: BBC. "1968: Student Riots Threaten Mexico Olympics." BBC News. BBC, 10 Feb. 1968.Web. 11 Mar. 2013. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/2/newsid_3548000/3548680.stm>. Bernath-Plaisted, Shandra, and Max Rennebohm. "Mexican Students Protest for Greater Democracy, 1968." Global Nonviolent Action Database. Swarthmore College, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. <http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/mexican-students-protest-greater-democracy-1968>. Richman, Joe, and Anayansi Diaz-Cortes. "Mexico 's 1968 Massacre: What Really Happened?" Npr.org. NPR: National Public Radio, 01 Dec. 2008. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97546687>.